“Whatever you want,” I said and meant it, while leaning forward and kissing the side of her neck. “I will do anything for you, Billy Conway.”
“I can’t wait to have the baby and for you to tell me ‘it’s a boy’ or ‘it’s a girl’! Make sure Barnswell knows not to ruin it for me. It has to be you who tells me. Look right on down there and declare what it is. Make sure, because they could be wrong.”
I didn’t want to burst her bubble and let her know the blood tests don’t lie…plus it was in moments like this it felt like we could work. There were these simple touches that Billy added to the world around her that made me feel like a king, and not a plain guy compared to the world of sparkly dudes she lived among.
“It will be me…” I told her. “Until then, we loveit!”
We both shared a laugh, and then Billy stilled in my embrace. “Do you like the name Quinn? For a girl? I had a friend in prep school who died of cancer. Her name was Quinn. She was in my class, her brother was—is—friends with Ford.”
“I love it. You know, Quincy would be a great name for a boy…too…depending how this goes.”
“Oh, it would.” I couldn’t see Billy’s face, but I could feel her smile in the air all around us. She was absolutely electric.
“You know what else would be great?”
“What?”
“If you had brought Chip!”
“Ha, Glory is taking good care of my boy, and they’re having a playdate with Ford and Dale. Laurel loves her puppy, and Dale has taken to sleeping under the crib.”
“Dogs will do that. I bet Chip will guard our sweet baby.”
“He will.”
I felt her take a long breath on my lap and was glad we were not looking at one another when it came to my next request. I knew her stance, yet felt compelled to say, “I’d also like you to be my wife, Willa…I’d like to protect the woman I love, and my family. I adore you and It already.”
“Cal.” My name came out on a growl. “I can’t. Everyone will think I tricked you into it. Shotgun wedding and all that. Got knocked up with the last man standing.”
The excuses flowed from her mouth like poison to my heart, but I loved this woman, so just her sitting with me was the antidote to her hurtful words. “Willa, turn around.”
I nudged her shoulder so she could turn to the side, her legs hanging off my thighs.
With my eyes boring into hers, the expanse of her neck on display while she turned her head, and her shiny hair in a low ponytail, I breathed a sigh. “I love you. No one tricked me. In fact, no one would ever believe that. Ever.” My hand cupped her cheek.
“We’re not getting married,” she said while turning her lips into my palm. With our gazes reconnected, she spoke. “I love you too, very much, but we’re not tying the knot. Quinn or maybe Quincy will know he or she is loved, and grow up with us caring for her or him. But the answer is no.”
For the sake of the weekend, I let it go. I knew this was Billy’s hill she was going to die on, but I was still willing to scale the hill over and over. If that made me an idiot, I didn’t care…
“Tell me, then, are we going to buy two sets of everything? One for here and one for your place? I want to make sure everyone feels comfortable here.” I changed the subject to baby supplies, interjecting a silent question on where Billy planned for us to love our baby together.
She nodded. “For now, seems like that’s how we have to do this. You’re here working, and I’m going to make some career changes but I still plan to do what I made a lifetime of doing.”
“Of course. The world needs Billy Conway, but so do I…and I will be with her any way I can get her. I’m not taking your career from you.” It wasn’t what I wanted, but was still the truth. I’d resolved myself to having Billy however, whenever, wherever… “But you have to bring Chip next time. He will feel left out.”
Nothing like a dog to break the mood.
Billy
“Frank, we’ll be fine,I swear. Please, just let us go. There will be plenty of security there. This is my mom we are dealing with, and I think Cal needs this.” I lobbied for our independence. Even if it only meant a few hours.
“Bill, here’s what you don’t get…if something happens to you, that’s on me. You can’t just go flitting all over the country now that you have a boyfriend. Not to mention, you are having a baby. Which, if you didn’t guess, makes my job a thousand times more stressful.”
“Frank, I’m fine. No one is going to bother me or hurt me.” I spoke in a hushed tone in Cal’s kitchen with Frank standing formidably in front of me.
Cal was taking a call from a patient upstairs in his home office, and I was brooding. It was becoming apparent that meshing my life with Cal’s was harder than expected. He wanted to “be a man”—his words—and take care of me. Frank had held that role for a long time and didn’t want to give it up so easily. As for me, I felt independent enough to take care of myself, which was laughable. I had a staff who did mostly everything for me.
“It’s bad enough we have to go to Mom’s place. You know Beatrice. She’s probably set up a three-ring circus for us to perform at and be photographed. Please—we will go, do our thing, and be back,” I said again. “Cal wants to drive. Let him have this one thing. I’m not asking. I’m telling you.”
